Hard surface flooring suppliers are adopting FloorScore and Greenguard Children & Schools certifications to verify that their products emit negligible levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and contribute to healthy indoor air quality — designations now required to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits and secure lucrative government contracts.

“All of our products are FloorScore certified and this has had a great impact on our specifications,” said Carrie Berger, national specification manager for rubber floor supplier Burke Industries. “We are constantly asked if our products meet indoor air quality standards. Being able to say ‘yes’ and prove it helps us get and maintain specifications. This alone would get us specified.”

FloorScore and Greenguard Children & Schools certified products have been successfully tested by third-party laboratories for compliance with California Section 01350, the nation’s strictest guidelines on emission testing and protocols for achieving healthy indoor air quality. Certified products are also verified for being composed of safe materials, retested annually and are proven to originate from sustainable and environmentally friendly facilities.

While FloorScore only certifies flooring, Greenguard Children & Schools certifies a wide variety of building-related products, including floors, furniture, doors, ceilings and counter-tops. Both certifications contribute LEED points to projects under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category while fulfilling government requirements for healthy indoor environments for federal buildings.

“IVC US felt it was important to pay special attention to how our products can contribute to improving indoor air quality. FloorScore enables us to make that contribution through credible testing and certifications,” said Angelina Cebrián, marketing communications manager, IVC US.

Shaw had its entire hardwood and laminate floor portfolio Greenguard Children and Schools certified in 2009 to complement the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) soft surface Green Label Plus program, which was launched in 1992 to assure low VOC carpet emissions.

“We wanted a third-party-verified, low-VOC certification that was compatible with the Green Label Plus certification we have on all of our residential and commercial carpet styles,” said David Wilkerson, corporate director of sustainability at Shaw. “The Children & Schools certification does exactly this and is also recognized by USGBC as a pathway to credit under their various LEED programs.”

Healthy indoor air quality certification is not cheap but worth the expense, according to Dave Reichwein, president and CEO, FreeFit. “We pay something like $35,000 a year for our certification; every year,” he said. “So much of the business being done right now depends on our Greenguard Children & Schools certification.”

FloorScore was developed in 2000 by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) and launched in 2005 in collaboration with SCS Global. Visit www.rfci.com for more information. The Greenguard Environmental Institute was founded in 2001 as the certifying body of Air Quality Sciences (AQS). In 2011 AQS and Greenguard were acquired by Underwriters Laboratories. Visit www.greenguard.org for more information.